Lexington, Va. --- Roanoke opened the 2008-09 season with a 28-10 lead and never trailed as they defeated Ferrum, 73-65 at the Washington & Lee Classic Saturday afternoon. Washington & Lee won the first game, 65-42 over Muskingum.

Sophomore guard Melvin Felix led Roanoke with 12 points, three rebounds and two assists. Senior forward Curtis Peery finished with a double-double, pouring in 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in the first win of the season.

Roanoke is now 15-2 all-time against Ferrum, 12-1 with Moir at the helm as he hasn't lost to the Panthers since his first season (1989, 76-73).

The Maroons, (1-0) who won their 17^th-straight season-opener, did it with a dominant first-half. The men caused 14 Ferrum turnovers, led by Zach Milton's four steals to give them a comfortable 40-23 halftime advantage. The frontline held 2008 USA-South Rookie of the Year Derek Mitchell to three points off 1-of-7 from the floor and four turnovers.

The Maroons held the Panthers to just 23-percent shooting from the field in the first half as Parrish Walker and Matt Crizer led Roanoke with seven first-half points each.

A lay-up by Peery gave Roanoke its largest lead at 22, 48-26 with 16:18 remaining in the second half. Ferrum then started to chip away at the Maroons' lead over the next 14 minutes.

A lay-up by Justin Henderson with less than two minutes to go cut the deficit to within eight, 65-57 as Moir called timeout with less than three minutes to play. Roanoke then calmly hit 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch to seal their 15^th win over the Panthers.

Ferrum, (0-1) who was last year's conference champions and picked second in the pre-season USA-South Poll, was led by Keith Crump with 18 points and six rebounds. Mitchell finished with 12 points and 18 rebounds.

Crizer and junior forward Kendrick Chittock had career scoring highs of 11 and eight, respectively. Walker finished with eight points in his first career start. Aaron Tyson eclipsed his career high in rebounds with nine on the afternoon. Milton had nine points off 7-of-9 shooting from the free throw line along with six steals to tie a career-high.

Freshman forward Logan Singleton led the newcomers with five rebounds along with the first two points of his collegiate career off a lay-up in the first half. The Maroons held a 28-18 advantage in bench scoring for the game.

The Maroons return to the campus of W&L tomorrow afternoon as they battle OAC-member Muskingum at 2 p.m. in the Washington & Lee Classic. It will be the first meeting against the Muskies.

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